Career Choices

Teaching remains a popular career choice among female teenagers, a survey has found, and it has re-emerged as a top option for males.

The most recent results of the Gallup Youth Survey, released May 17, which has been conducted since 1977, found that teaching was the No. 1 pick for a career among girls ages 13 to 17, followed by lawyer, doctor, and nurse. Teaching has consistently ranked near the top of occupational aspirations among teenage girls, according to officials at the Gallup Organization, based in Princeton, N.J., but not among boys.

Professional athlete ranked as the top choice of boys in that age group, followed by doctor, architect, engineer, and teacher. Teaching was a top choice of male teenagers in 1977, but it did not reappear near the top until 2003. It scored well again last year.

The poll was conducted by phone in January and February. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.